Or more accurately, a great deal of transgender women seem to be popping up in mainstream media, their lives (and their lives as they lived them in the past) offered up for both audiences and journalists to pick through and scrutinize -- and yes, sometimes marvel over.

In others, there have been some ruffled feathers, as the mainstream world bumps up against the fact that transgender people are not only among us, but their lives are not so neatly summed up as having been "born into wrong bodies."

This over-simplification of transpeople's lives was most recently on display when CNN's Piers Morgan seemed to follow fellow journalist Katie Couric's script of reducing transgender lives to "Before" and "After."

Photos: Transgender celebrities 11 photos

Photos: Transgender celebrities11 photos

YouTube star Jazz Jennings is joining the ranks of prominent transgender individuals doing their part to increase the community's visibility in the media. The 14-year-old activist appeared in Clean & Clear's latest digital campaign, and she's also starring in a TLC reality show airing this summer.

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Photos: Transgender celebrities11 photos

Laverne Cox is the first openly transgender person to be nominated for an Emmy. She appeared on the VH1 reality show "I Want to Work for Diddy" and later produced her own series, "TRANSform Me." She now portrays Sophia, a trans woman in prison, on the Netflix show "Orange Is the New Black." She received the Emmy nomination for that role.

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Photos: Transgender celebrities11 photos

Former male model Andrej Pejic revealed to People magazine in July 2014 that she has undergone sex reassignment surgery and is now Andreja.

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Former "Drag Race" contestant Carmen Carrera wants to be the first transgender model to walk the runway for the Victoria's Secret fashion show.

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Alexis Arquette is not only a member of a famous acting family, but also a transgender woman who has appeared in several films, including "Down and Out in Beverly Hills."

Lana Wachowski was "Laurence" when she and her brother Andy directed films like "The Matrix."

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Chaz Bono transitioned from Chastity Bono, which is how many fans knew him when he appeared on his parents variety series, "The Sonny & Cher Show."

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Isis King was a contestant on the 11th and 17th cycles of "America's Next Top Model."

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Ines Rau recently posed nude with male supermodel Tyson Beckford. The French model said she became a woman at age 16 because "I just woke up one day realizing that it's enough, I need to embrace who I am and be loved for what I am and what I have been through, without the fear of being rejected."

As a male transgender trailblazer myself -- meaning I was designated female at birth and transitioned to male later in life -- I watched the "Katie" show with fervent hope that the time had finally come when a transgender subject was not going to be asked about their private parts.

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When Couric raised the question to Cox later in the show, Cox deftly added that focusing so much attention on transgender people's bodies objectifies them. More critically, she noted, the focus on private parts diverts the cultural discussion from more relevant and pressing issues, such as the violence and discrimination transpeople (and transwomen of color especially) face every day in this country. (In a later show, Couric addressed the response to her questions about their anatomy.)

As someone who has also been asked on multiple occasions by complete strangers what might or might not be happening in my pants, I thought this was a good time to suggest eight things NOT to say to transgender people, a handy list which just might make your office parties, family reunions, jury duty -- or interviews in front of millions of viewers -- go more smoothly.

1. "You look so real, I never would've known!"

While usually said with good intentions, this is one of the more undermining statements. We don't need nontrans people to affirm our gender, nor does the subtle implication that we are fake -- or dressing up and trying to fool you -- ever feel very good. Transgender people are not cubic zirconia.

2. "What do you do with your wife?"

What do you do with yours? Don't assume I -- or any other transgender person -- want to be asked about my sex life any more than you do.

3. "I thought you were going to be scary, but you're so polite and normal."

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A woman who chauffeured me around a book fair once actually told me this, before admitting that she'd left her children at home when she learned whom she was tasked with driving. I think she thought it was a compliment, but it wasn't. Not even the "normal" part.

4. "I don't care; you'll always be a girl to me."

It's true that your experience is your experience, and mine is my own. But it's simple, common decency to refer to people by both the pronouns and the names they prefer. (So don't continue to use a birth name if you happen to know it, and don't ask, "What's your real name?" if you don't.) Women have been taking their husbands' surnames for centuries, and generations of humans have had little problem making the switch along with them. It's not that difficult to be respectful, so maybe lay off lamenting how hard somebody's transition has been for you.

5. "Aren't you afraid of getting beaten up?"

Thanks for reminding me about that. There was a time early in my transition when a pack of kids on the subway pulled a knife and taunted me, "You think you're a tough guy or something?" I'd managed not to worry about being a victim of a hate crime for a while before you brought it up!

6. "Meet my friend Tyson; he's a transgender!"

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It's not cool to out a transperson without his or her permission. It's a matter of respect and privacy. Sadly, it can also be a matter of personal safety. (Also: don't use "transgender" as a noun, while we're at it.)

7. "When did you realize you were gay?"

I know this is confounding, but it's important to understand that sexuality (whom you're attracted to) and gender identity (what gender you identify as) are two different things, and often unrelated. Trans people can be gay, straight, bisexual, asexual, pansexual, really into gym socks -- basically any sexuality a nontrans person can express.

8. "When did you have 'The Surgery'?"

And this brings us back to Couric's question about Carrera and Cox. There is no one surgery, and the fact is, transpeople have a wide variety of situations going on "down there," and everywhere else. Some have surgeries; others don't. Some take hormone therapy; others don't. Some can afford neither surgery nor hormones; some do one, but not the other. Others can and will do it "all," so to speak.

No matter the specifics (nor how patriarchal the society), gender does not boil down to the presence or absence of a penis. Unless someone volunteers to talk about the subject, transgender people's private parts, like everybody else's, are best left private.

So my hat goes off to Carrera and Cox for -- regardless of what's in their panties -- having the balls to say "No" to Couric's impolitic line of questioning.